Children with Disabilities

A disability includes a physical impairment such as mobility, hearing, visual, and language difficulties, and developmental delays which affect a person’s behaviour, emotional expression, and learning abilities. It includes mild to severe disabilities, from cerebral palsy, paralysis and amputation, to blindness, deafness, autism, and dyslexia. Children may be born with an impairment, or develop one as a result of disease, abuse, or an injury, e.g. many children are the victims of shootings, bombings, and explosions in conflict affected areas.

The degree of disability a person experiences is frequently related to society’s adaptation to meet the needs of people with varying abilities. This is known as the social model of disability which highlights the role of the environment in reducing or increasing the ability of individuals to participate equally in everyday life. For example, a person in a wheelchair has the impairment of not being able to walk. The disability, however, may be that he cannot take up services due to a lack of building access. Protection workers must consider any additional needs or risk factors a person may have as a result of his impairment and disability. Children in developing countries are more vulnerable to disability since poverty and conflicts increase the incidence of impairments, and reduce the provision of necessary health, education, social services, and adaptive provisions to help include children of all abilities.

Children with impairments or special needs are highly vulnerable to discrimination, abandonment, abuse, exploitation, injury and death, since they are more reliant on the cooperation and support of others to meet their basic needs, and may be less able to express their wishes. In some cultures, children with special needs are actively excluded from participating in society since they may be viewed as a source of shame, or unworthy of care and protection.

Government policies should seek to reduce the incidence of injuries and diseases via adequate health care, including education, immunizations, nutrition, and sanitation. All programming and policies for children should promote the social inclusion of children with disabilities at every level. Children should benefit from the reduction of physical and social barriers, adaptation of services and/or rehabilitation assistance in order to enable them to participate as fully as possible in their communities. This includes family support, health facilities, access to education, and respite services to enable children to fulfill their potential. Children of all abilities must be empowered to express their views and to influence their own lives.

The resources in this section focus on children with disabilities in developing countries, and those affected by conflict. They highlight their vulnerability to exclusion and abuse, and provide examples of projects to address the needs of children with special needs.

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The Commodification of Care: Precarious Custodial Relationships, Disability, and Settler-Colonialism

Nicole Ineese-Nash, Kathryn Underwood, Arlene Hache, Patty Douglas, 10 Jun 2024

In this chapter, the authors explore the intricate relationships between young disabled children, their families, institutional settings, and disability services in Canada, with an emphasis on the challenges stemming from unstable custodial dynamics and governmental interference.

The Commodification of Care: Precarious Custodial Relationships, Disability, and Settler-Colonialism

Thematic Workshops on the Guidelines on Deinstitutionalization #2: Equal Rights, Diverse Needs: Protections for Children and Women with Disabilities and Other High-Risks Groups

Disability Rights International, 02 May 2024

The webinar took place on 30 April 2024 and focused on Chapter IV of the Guidelines: Deinstitutionalization grounded in the dignity and diversity of persons with disabilities, and how they relate to children and other children and other at-risk populations, such as elders and women.

Invisible Victims: The Nexus Between Disabilities and Trafficking in Human Beings

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, 02 Apr 2024

This short paper provides an overview of the existing links between disability and trafficking in human beings, how persons living with disability are affected by trafficking, and to what extent legal standards, policy frameworks, and anti-trafficking measures integrate concerns associated with disabilities.

An Exploratory Study of Saudi Parents' Perceptions and Beliefs About Institutional and Home Care for Children With Disabilities

Abdullah Alrubaian, Norah Alkhateeb, Deborah Tamakloe, 29 Mar 2024

The present qualitative study seeks to understand parents' perceptions of home or institutional care for children with disabilities. The study utilized an exploratory qualitative approach paradigm with five focus groups in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.

An exploratory study of Saudi parents' perceptions and beliefs about institutional and home care for children with disabilities

Children with Disabilities in Europe and Central Asia: A Statistical Overview of their Well-Being

UNICEF, 30 Nov 2023

This report provides critical evidence for decision-makers across countries to use in both policy and programming. The report’s objective is to promote the use of these data to make children with disabilities in Europe and Central Asia more visible, bringing about a fuller understanding of their life experiences.

Insight: Disability Inclusion in Kenya's Care Reform

Changing the Way We Care, 30 Nov 2023

Disability inclusion means breaking down barriers to promote a society that values diversity and accessibility for everyone. In 2023, Changing the Way We Care Kenya included a disability inclusion reflection learning exercise aimed at collecting views and feedback, and documenting how the initiative had impacted on lives of caregivers and children with disabilities, and how disability issues were be included in the care reform agenda.

Insight: Disability Inclusion in Kenya's Care Reform

Raport de analiză a situației actuale a copiilor și tinerilor cu deficiențe de auz

Changing the Way We Care, 15 Oct 2023

În perioada ianuarie - iunie 2023, Asociația de Suport Familial de Recuperare Timpurie a Copiilor cu Deficiențe de Auz și Văz ”AudiViz” a realizat un studiu care a avut scopul de a analiza perceptia parintilor și a copiilor/tinerilor cu dizabilitate de auz privind calitatea vietii lor, a serviciilor oferite de autoritățile publice și dacă acestea răspund nevoilor lor sau contribuie la sprijinirea familiei, la reabilitarea şi integrarea socială, educațională.

Global Report on Children with Developmental Disabilities

UN,, 15 Sep 2023

This WHO-UNICEF Global Report on children with developmental disabilities provides principles and approaches to intentionally include the needs and aspirations of children and young people with developmental disabilities in policy, programming and public health monitoring.

A Portrait of the Rights of Children With Disabilities in Nigeria: A Policy Review

Rose Uzoma Elekanachi, Keiko Shikako, Laurie Snider, Noemi Dahan-Oliel, 10 Aug 2023

This study examined the extent to which Nigeria’s current disability and childhood policies have integrated the CRC and the CRPD frameworks. Using a structured search of databases and Nigerian federal and state government websites, we conducted a policy review to identify their disability and child-related disability policies.

Children with Disabilities in Eastern and Southern Africa: A statistical overview of their well-being

UNICEF, 21 Jul 2023

This UNICEF report aims to promote the use of data to make children with disabilities in the region more visible, bringing about a fuller understanding of their life experiences. It offers evidence crucial to decision-making to fulfill obligations, both moral and legal, to give every child an equal chance in life.